


Playing Matchmaker Goes Wrong (Or Does It?)

by last_holistic_renegade



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alregic Reactions, Fainting, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Humor, M/M, X2, familial royality - Freeform, mentions of alergy reactions, mentions of fainting, sometimes a family can be two oblivious gays and their younger brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:40:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25942261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/last_holistic_renegade/pseuds/last_holistic_renegade
Summary: When Patton realises his older brother and his best friend have more chemistry than he'd thought, he and Virgil ideate a plan for the two of them to date. But when Roman and Logan catch up on their attempts, things start to go south for the two pairs.Who would succeed at the end? The two young Cupids or the college students' friendship of years?In a war of wits, there are more than two hearts at risk.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 12
Kudos: 68





	Playing Matchmaker Goes Wrong (Or Does It?)

Three knocks on the door.

“Roman! We’re here!”

“I know, I know, I know, just wait a second.”

The keys turned only moments later, and his brother’s face smiled at them from the other side of the door.

“What’s up little monster, little monster’s friend,” he greeted them as they walked in, shuffling their hair as he did so.

“I’m beginning to believe you don’t want us here,” Virgil joked, fixing his blond and purple hair back in place.

Roman closed the door, shrugging while he made his way back to the sofa.

“It’s not like I have a choice,” he said, letting himself fall in the comfortable but cheap piece of furniture. After staying a few nights, Virgil wondered how something with a price of under 100 bucks could feel so good.

“No, you don’t,” Patton smiled back. He set his school supplies on the table one by one with the face of someone who knew they had the best hand. “Not if you don’t want mum to find out you kicked two poor teenagers into the cold unforgiving street.”

“Who would’ve thought?” Roman jokingly placed the back of his hand on his forehead. “Defeated by my brother and his best friend!”

“Guess the age is finally catching up with you,” Virgil ventured.

Roman flipped him off without sparing him a second glance.

This was all part of a beautifully crafted routine. Patton came to pay his older brother, Roman, a visit every Thursday or two at his flat in the centre of the city. He would let them in, complaining about these ‘two little shits he had to babysit’ and they’d work on their schoolwork until it was time to leave, around 4 pm.

Virgil didn’t know what having an older brother was like. He was an only child. But after having met Patton’s family, Roman became something close to that.

Their relationship was something to envy, that’s for sure. Patton could spend an entire day talking about ‘his awesome brother Roman.  _ He’s an art student, did you know? I’ve been to some of his plays, he’s really good! With twenty-two years old you’d think he’d be a disaster, and to be honest mum and dad were sort of afraid to let him go and live on his own, but he is doing mostly fine and likes to invite me on the weekends to make pancakes with him! _ ’. Ever since he and Virgil became friends, back in freshman year, he’s heard a lot of stories about his older brother. And when Patton invited him to go over to his flat one day… well, let’s say the invitations started coming with a plus one.

They heard a familiar pattern of knocks by the window.

“Oh! Logan’s here!”

That also was part of the routine.

Sometime around the third week of going to his friend’s brother’s apartment, Virgil met Logan. He was a medicine student, one year younger than Roman, and he was Roman’s best friend. The first two truths he’d been told, the third one had been easy to figure out.

Logan didn’t live in the same building, yet he only came into the apartment from the fire escape stairs. The first time Virgil heard him he almost had a heart attack. But he was a nice guy, overall. A bit reserved, kept things to himself. Almost professional-looking. But never with Roman.

Every time Virgil’s seen them together —whether it was to prepare for their exams in finals week, or just to see a movie in Roman’s small TV— they looked exactly like he hoped he and Patton would look like in the future. Well, perhaps with some exceptions…

“‘Sup, loser,” Roman said, offering him a hand as Logan got in his 6 ft of height through the narrow window frame.

“I brought my notes and some popcorn.” Logan took the offer and fell quite gracefully on the floor. All mechanical moves, part of the muscle memory. “I don’t think you should be calling me a loser if you want either of those.”

Roman snickered on his way to the kitchen, “Sure thing. Get comfortable, I’ll be back in a sec.”

Logan displayed what Virgil assumed were thousands of colour coded flashcards and a bag of popcorn on the coffee table, all in a careful order. Patton didn’t give him two seconds to settle when he waved enthusiastically from his seat on the round table.

“Hey Logan!”

The medicine student looked up with a smile.

“Hello, Patton, Virgil,” he nodded to each of them. Then he eyed curiously the content of their scattered books. “What is it your lame teachers sent you to do now?”

“Science homework,” Patton smiled innocently. Virgil saw a light turn on behind Logan’s blue eyes.

“Really? And what—”

“Don’t you dare do my brother’s homework, Davis,” Roman warned him, coming with two glasses and a bottle of soda. He also left a second bottle on their table and raised a finger in Patton’s direction. “Not a word to mum.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it!”

Roman set the other elements on the coffee table, far from Logan’s notes, as his friend walked over to the kitchen, popcorn in hand. He moved as if this was his house, and if it were, Virgil wouldn’t be surprised.

The rest of the day passed as it normally would, with Patton and Virgil finishing their homeworks with the sounds of two young-adults studying with the occasional laugh in the middle. When the clock struck 4pm, the teens started gathering their stuff.

“I can’t come back for dinner, today, can I?” Patton tried, but Roman was already shaking his head, directing them towards the door.

“I’m helping Logan with his Chemistry exam and we’re ordering some pizzas. Sorry little dude, maybe another day.”

“Good luck in your exams, Logan,” Virgil said.

“Good luck with high school,” Logan winked at him, their little inside joke after many years of Virgil complaining to them.

Like any other Thursday, Virgil and Patton began to walk towards the subway station. On a normal day, they’d travel back to their city, taking both the subway and the bus, they’d listen to their travel playlist together, and then walk until separating at the intersection of their streets.

But today wasn’t a normal day. Today, Virgil’s hands were sweating, and his eyes couldn’t stop going back and forth between the busy street in front of him and Patton’s unassuming face.

It must have been around October from last year that he realised he liked Patton. A very messy time, both for his mind and his heart. Ever since, Virgil had been looking for ways to confess what he felt. He wasn’t  _ that _ much of a coward after all. And something inside him hoped that telling Patton would solve the problem, either for good or for worse. But each time he tried to so much as begin talking about crushes, or dates, or anything involving lips, he was overcome with the light fear of rejection. But he made plans for today, had rehearsed them in the shower, during breakfast, and in his head all the way to Roman’s flat. Today would be  _ the _ day, and nothing could ruin it.

“Uh, Roman and Logan are very good friends,” he began. Just a conversation starter, one he knew Patton wouldn’t let down.

As expected, at the mention of his brother, Patton’s smile grew with a series of nods.

“Yeah, they have a very pretty relationship.”

“They sort of remind me of you and I,” Virgil ventured. Now Patton frowned, but not with rejection. With curiosity.

“How so?”

“Well, they’ve known each other for a very long time, and they seem to do everything together.”

“Oh, yeah, they’re pretty much joined by the hip, that’s what mum always says,” Patton laughed.

Virgil followed him with a nervous chuckle of his own, “Yeah. Sure. Uh, but haven’t you thought they could be… together?”

“Together?” Patton’s frown reappeared. “As in,  _ together _ together? Relationship together?”

“Yeah.”

Patton hummed. “I… never thought of it. Why?”

“Well, like, you told me Roman was gay and Logan’s had boyfriends before…”

“I don’t see your point, Virge,” Patton smiles kindly at him. Always kind, never offending.

“Just think about it. Two best friends, very very close… they must share a lot of things with each other.”

“Yeah, pretty much like you and I,” Patton nodded.  _ Yes _ .

“Exactly!” Virgil continued, gaining a bit of courage with each of Patton’s nods. “And it’s been a long time since they met, right?”

“Yup, since,” Patton made the math in his head, “Roman’s second year at Uni?”

“Right, too much time to know a person.” Virgil felt like those little dolls people left in car dashboards after nodding that much. “And you know, the other day I was thinking… it’s a lot of time, and they spent it majorly with each other… it would be hard for at least one of them not to catch feelings.”

He left it there, hanging in the air. Now it was Patton’s turn to get it and answer. As his friend’s eyebrows knit together, Virgil just prayed that however this ended, it ended well. Otherwise, his heart would explode in his ribcage with all this drumming.

“Oh my God,” Patton said finally, looking at Virgil with wide eyes. “Virge, you really feel that?”

Alright, here it goes.

“Yeah,” he smiled down at the street. “What do you say?”

“Uh, I mean, I’m surprised!” Patton smiled, and Virgil felt like he could live of that smile alone if he wanted to. “But… I think I feel the same.”

Virgil’s hear stopped beating for a second.

“You do?” he asked, perhaps too hopefully but you couldn’t blame him.

“Definitely!” his friend nodded. “We have to get Logan and Roman together!”

“What?”

_ And the other shoe dropped _ .

“Now it’s all clear!” Patton said, looking ahead of him and ignoring completely the face of utter desolation of his friend. “If I remember correctly, and I always do with these things, I haven’t seen Roman as happy with any of his ex-dates as he’s been with Logan, not even in high school.”

“Oh, really,” Virgil said with a flat tone.

“Yes,  _ really _ ,” Patton continued in his obliviousness. “And I mean, I think I never stopped to consider it, but they do actually spend so much time together? Like, for being at University, you’d expect them to go around partying and making out with strangers—”

“Is that what people do at University?” Virgil frowned.

“They do in the movies?” Patton shrugged. “But that’s not important, what matters is that they don’t do any of that stuff  _ unless _ they go together. And Logan’s been to at least half of our family celebrations every year.”

Virgil knew that. He  _ also _ had been there.

“How could I not have seen it before,” Patton shook his head to the sides. “We need to start thinking how to make them go on a date as soon as possible. Will you help me?”

Virgil looked at him, and Patton had both his eyes open with so much glee in them…

“Of course,” he smiled, even if it pained him. “What’s a master plan without a sidekick?”

“You know you’re more than a sidekick,” Patton chuckled. “More like a co-hero.”

Virgil hummed, ignoring the sound of his heart breaking _. Stupid, stupid, stupid. _

“I like that title.”

“Then it’s settled,” Patton affirmed linking their arms by the elbows. “Virgil and Patton, against my brother and his best friend’s obliviousness, on their plan to make them fall in love.”

“They won’t see what’s coming,” Virgil said.

Patton sighed, “And I wouldn’t have seen this without you. You’re literally the best.”

He stood on his tiptoes to leave a brief kiss on Virgil’s cheek that had him flaring up like a bonfire.

“Now, to our headquarters slash homes!” Patton raised a solemn finger in the air before walking towards the next street cross. “We’ve got an important task in our hands.”

“Pat.”

“What?” Patton turned around.

“The subway station’s this way,” Virgil pointed with his thumb to the left.

“Right,” Patton chuckled. “See? I’d be lost without you.”

As they made their way back home, all while listening to Patton’s plan beginning to shape itself, Virgil wondered why out of the thousands of people living in New York, whoever was in charge of fate and destiny had to hate  _ him _ .

* * *

**Pat:** heyheyheyheyheyheyhey

**Big Bro:** hey???

**Pat:** I need a favour

**Big Bro:** don’t u always -.-

**Pat:** pleeeeeease

**Big Bro:** *sighs* fine, what?

**Pat:** you’re the best <3

**Pat:** I need you to come pick virgil and I from work this friday. bring logan too if you want to I don’t want you to get bored

**Big Bro:** will u give us free drinks??

**Pat:** will that make you stay?

**Big Bro:** maybe…

**Pat:** then sure : )

**Big Bro:** u’re the best <3

* * *

Roman sat on the table, phone in his hand and a frown in his face. He looked up when the door’s bell rang, ready to see Logan as he walked over to his table.

“Hey,” he said with an easy smile, straightening the white tie he was wearing over the blue shirt. “What’s the special occasion?”

Roman’s frown deepened. “What special occasion?”

Logan looked confused, suddenly looking around as if he was expecting this to be a joke. Roman was positively not laughing.

“I… was told by your brother that we were celebrating something today,” he said. “Then you sent me the message and—”

“Why do you have Patton’s number?”

Logan blinked. “He wanted help with his physics homework once.”

“And you helped him?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Gosh you’re such a nerd,” Roman smiled. “But I’m afraid to say there’s no special occasion, my friend, just my brother being an idiot.”

Logan arched an eyebrow, “Why?”

“Look over my shoulder.”

His friend made a very subtle move. Roman knew what he’d see: Patton and Virgil, both with their Blossom aprons, leaning over each other until one of them looked their way. Logan’s frown told him he’d seen the same panicked look and innocence faking Roman had witnessed.

“They’re… spying on us?”

“Worse,” Roman said. “They’re playing matchmakers.”

“What?” his frown deepened.

“Patton has this idea that he’d be a great Cupid, he’s tried to set me up with multiple guys  _ many _ times.”

Roman remembered the countless express dates. Nothing would ever compare to the  _ embarrassment _ of saying sorry to strangers because his little brother told them in the mall that ‘his bro thought he was cute’.

Logan, however, was not used to this level of mortification, so he was a gaping and babbling mess.

“But why-?”

“Why is he doing it? I’ve got no idea,” Roman shrugged.

“No, I mean why us?” Logan insisted. “We’re friends, didn’t he know that?”

“I think he didn’t get the memo,” Roman rolled his eyes. “I mean, I love him, but whenever he does this sort of stuff is…”

“Yeah, I get it,” Logan nodded. “Alright, I’m gonna talk to them.”

“Why?” It was Roman’s turn to frown. Logan looked at him as if he’d just asked what colour the sky was.

“Because… what they’re doing is wrong?”

“It’s a good point, and I need you to know it’s very valid,” Roman conceded, “but  _ what if _ , we didn’t do that.”

Logan’s eyebrows looked like freaking bridges by how arched they were.

“Then what do you suggest we do?”

“Okay, I want you to keep in mind that I’m your best friend and bear with me, alright?”

Logan narrowed his eyes. “What do you have in mind, Clark?”

“What if,” he pointed with his fingers, “we play along?”

His friend looked at a loss. “I don’t think I follow.”

“They want us to fall in love, right? What if we act like we’re oblivious and purposefully mess up their plans?” Roman suggested.

“You want to play the game of two 17-year-olds?” Logan asked. “Don’t you think it would be a little, I don’t know, immature?”

“You could see it that way, for sure,” Roman nodded. “But you could also think that we’re teaching them a valuable lesson  _ and _ having fun, all in one move, what do you say?”

Logan hummed, “They  _ would _ actually take something positive away from this.”

“Definitely,” Roman nodded, a smile already forming in his lips. “And you know you  _ love _ proving you’re the smartest person in the room, don’t you?”

“I don’t like the way you know me,” Logan squinted at him.

“To be loved you have first to be known, isn’t that the saying?” he leaned back on his chair.

“Something like that.” His friend looked at the ceiling and sighed, “Sure, I’m in, what’s your plan.”

“Alright, you remember I’m allergic to cinnamon, right?” Roman continued, eagerly leaning on the table.

“Please don’t tell me part of your plan involves ending up in the hospital.”

“It won’t reach that level,” he dismissed the thought with a shake of his head. “So, we’ll order some drinks, alright? And you’re gonna add cinnamon in yours. Then, like the most oblivious person on Earth, I’m going to get a sip of your glass.”

“You say that as if you wouldn’t do that in a normal situation,” Logan deadpanned.

“Shut up, I’m conspiring,” Roman shushed him. “So, I’ll get an allergic reaction, but since you’re a great doctor—”

“Not a doctor yet,” Logan reminded him.

“Since you’re a great doctor  _ in training _ …”

“Much better.”

“And I always have an EpiPen in my persona, we’ll fix it quick as lightning,” he finished with both hands sliding flat on the air.

“And, since you had a possibly serious health problem, I will insist that you go back to your apartment to rest, which means they will also be left without a ride home.”

Roman lifted his eyebrows, “Didn’t you say it was immature to mess up with 17-year-olds?”

Logan fixed his glasses, “Should’ve thought better before trying to set us up.”

“Whatever you say,” Roman rolled his eyes. “So? Deal?”

Logan looked him in the eye, and Roman saw the determination his best friend was so famous for.

“Deal.”

* * *

“It was a disaster!” Patton yelled from where he dug his face into a pillow.

“No, it wasn’t,” Virgil lied.

“A complete mess!”

“Alright maybe a little?” he adventured.

“Cinnamon?!” Patton asked, violently lifting his head, “Out of all the drinks he could ask for in the store, they ordered one _with_ _cinnamon_?!”

“Yeah it was a bit… bad?” he shrugged. Patton whined out loud as he rolled until he lied with his face to the ceiling.

“His face got so red. You saw how red his face got, right, Virgil?”

“Yeah, I did…”

“And it was swollen!” Patton remarqued, lifting both hands next to his face. “Swollen like a pillow!”

“I’d say more like a fat tomato,” Virgil considered aloud.

“Virge.”

“Huh?”

“You’re not helping,” Patton said.

“Sorry,” he pursed his lips.

Patton whined again, this time louder, if that was possible.

They were at Virgil’s home after a very long and uncomfortable bus ride. To be entirely honest, Virgil was known for being a pessimist, but out of all the possible outcomes this wasn’t even in his top ten list.

At first, everything had gone marvellously. Both Roman and Logan got into Blossoms, sat on a table together, and after a long chat ordered a couple of drinks. Things seemed to be going well. They talked, they laughed, and Roman even stole a sip from Logan’s drink with a playful smirk.

And that’s where everything went to Hell. Minutes after that, Roman’s face began to get all red, and he had to cough into his hand a few times. Then his entire face began to swell, and soon enough Logan had to inject him with an EpiPen that Roman  _ luckily _ had with him. It’d been mortifying having to see the person he considered his brother lying breathless on the floor.

And to make things worse, Logan had insisted on taking Roman back home, which meant they were left to take the public transport, still on their work clothes, with a guilty conscience consuming them all the way home in what felt like a fucking tuna can.

It’d been an eventful couple of hours, that was a given. But the worst thing was having to listen to Patton feel like ‘the worst brother ever’ —his words, not Virgil’s— and a terrible matchmaker.

“That’s it, this will never work out,” he lamented himself. “I’ll have to keep on living with the knowledge that I almost killed my brother for a stupid plan that didn’t even work!”

“Perhaps you’re giving up too fast,” Virgil said, sitting in the bed with his back to the wall, opposite to Patton.

“I don’t know,” Patton covered his eyes with his forearm, pushing his glasses up in his head. “It’s not like I have a better idea.”

Virgil huffed and threw his head back to look at the ceiling. Across his room, one of the papers in his corkboard fell to the floor, and he couldn’t find it himself to keep the  _ ‘same’  _ from coming out. He went to pick it up, maybe sticking the pin with a bit more strength than necessary, when he noticed next to it a very interesting leaflet.

“Hey, Pat?” His friend whined as a response. “Maybe I do have an idea?”

He heard him perk up in the bed. Virgil turned around, leaflet in hand, and offered him to Patton.

“My band is playing a concert in Green Peak.” Patton took the paper and inspected it for a while as Virgil stood awkwardly with his hands in the back pockets of his trousers. “Maybe you can get Roman to take you there…”

“Isn’t that the over-twenty bar?” Patton asked.

“Yeah!” Virgil smiled, “Janus got us the gig a few months ago.”

“And you think you can get me in?” Patton lifted an eyebrow.

“No,” Virgil looked at his feet. “Unless you had a responsible adult with you…”

Patton meditated for a second, “Roman is hardly an adult, I wouldn’t call him responsible really.”

“Maybe,” Virgil reasoned, “but  _ maybe _ Logan can help him with that…”

A light seemed to switch on in Patton’s eyes, and the same glimmer Virgil had witnessed before was back in his face. He looked at the leaflet as if it was a lifeline.

“That’s an awesome idea, Virge!”

“Really?” Virgil asked, and he could almost feel the hopefulness in his expression.

“Of course! When’s the concert?”

“Uh, next week I think?” he lifted an eyebrow.

“Very well then,” Patton smiled at the leaflet as if it was made of gold, “let’s just hope no one ends up in a hospital visit this time.”

* * *

Logan was rewriting a few of his notes when his phone screen lit up. It was a call from Roman. Rolling his eyes, he picked up the phone.

“Hello?” Logan asked involuntarily as he continued to take notes.

“I have a date.”

His pencil broke.  _ Damn it _ .

“With whom?” he asked incredulously, picking up the next pencil from his set.

“With you, obviously.” There was the sound of a TV in the background, and what appeared to be a box of some snack going around. It was Thursday, so Logan knew Roman must be watching his favourite cooking show, Crazy Delicious.

“But it’s on Netflix,” Logan had said to him once he forced him to watch the first chapters, “why do you have to wait until Thursday to see it?”

“Because I like me a good routine, alright?” was Roman’s answer, every time.

“I guess your brothers are at it again, huh?” he said, putting his homework to a hold. Logan knew this would take more than the occasional five minutes he used to rest.

“Yeah, but at least this one seems to be fun.” There were a few seconds where Logan couldn’t hear anything but British voices cheering in the background. Then, Roman spoke again, “Check what I sent you.”

“Oh, please, can you—”

“Send it by email, grandpa?” Roman teased him. “Of course I did, I know you hate technology.”

That brought a smile to Logan’s face. He opened Roman’s email to see a photo taken from Patton’s phone.

“It’s… a leaflet,” he said.

“Yes,  _ genius _ .” Logan can practically hear the fondness in his eye roll. “What matters is what’s in it.”

“A concert?” he read out loud.

“Yeah.” There was a creak on the other side of the line, surely Roman getting up from the couch. “Virgil’s band is playing a small gig at the bar, and supposedly, since it’s over-twenty, Patton needs me to go with him so they can let him get in.”

Logan snorted, “They got creative this time.”

“He also said, and I quote,” he cleared his throat to make his best flat tone, “‘oh, and Ro, you can take Logan with you if you want. Wouldn’t want you to be a bored old man in the crowd. Ha, ha, ha’. Does he really think I’m that stupid?!”

Logan pushed his chair back, “I have to remind you you’re the one that thought that dinosaurs were cowards.”

“I did not!” Roman chimed in, “That’s not how it happened, and you know it! It’s not my fault you decided to call them ‘chickens’, of all the possible words.”

“Tomato, Solanum lycopersicum,” Logan shrugged.

“Alright, well, they’re also insulting  _ you _ here, what do you say about that?”

“That there’s where their plan would have failed.”

“I really don’t like you,” Roman said, but the grin was audible.

“Something tells me you do.” Logan himself couldn’t keep the smile from his face.

Roman laughed, and the familiar sound was too pleasant; it almost made Logan want to laugh too.

“Whatever,” his friend went back to the point, “it’s tomorrow night, do you think you’re up for a good time?”

Logan pursed his lips, looking at the notes on the table.

“I don’t know, I have an exam next Monday.”

“ _ C’mon _ ,” Roman insisted. “I’ll buy you a drink when we get there, okay?”

“Are you telling me to drink in front of your younger brother a weekend before an exam?” Logan’s eyebrow lifted almost instinctively. “You’re such a bad influence.”

“Only when it’s about you.” He wondered if Roman was smiling as much as he did, and for some reason he thought he did. “So, what do you say? Are you up for the task?”

Logan hummed. “Make it two drinks.”

“ _ Ohh _ ,” Roman sing-sung, “look who’s being irresponsible now. Good, I would die if my date was lame.”

“ _ Fuck off _ ,” Logan laughed. “See you on Friday then.”

“See you,” Roman said back. “And use the blue shirt. It makes your eyes look prettier.”

He hung up, leaving Logan standing in the middle of his living room. It wasn’t like he’d never received advice from Roman before a date. His best friend had been responsible for at least 85% of his date outfits. So in reality, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. But it felt… different, knowing the date was with  _ him _ .

Still, when Logan dressed for the concert the following night, he didn’t hesitate before grabbing the blue shirt hung at the bottom of his closet.

* * *

The Green Peak was dark. Logan had assumed that much from the name alone, especially considering they had allowed Virgil’s band to play.

This wasn’t Logan’s first time at one of the young boy’s concerts. Roman had invited him to a few gigs before, purely because he didn’t want to be the only twenty-something guy in a club full of teenagers. The music they played would be classified as punk, merging a bit with the rock genre. Definitely not Logan’s particular taste, but nothing too distasteful for him to hate it.

He met Roman and Patton at the entrance, and the youngest Clark brother went immediately to him as soon as he reached the doors.

“Logan, I’m so glad you could make it!” Patton said, taking him and Roman by the wrist and pulling them inside, “C’mon, Virgil must be about to get on stage.”

“You used the shirt I told you to,” Roman recognised. Logan snorted.

“I’ve been following your fashion advice for what, two years now?”

“Almost three by now,” Roman looked him up and down before smiling. “Huh, maybe I should ditch Theatre and become a fashion guru, because my choices sure look very good.”

It was a stupid comment, but it made him feel proud, somehow. Like he’d done something good that earned him Roman’s approval.

“Please don’t ditch your future for that,” he granted him a confident smile.

“You’re right,” Roman shrugged, tugging from his white leather jacket. “I’ll save my gift to those that deserve it.”

“Here!” Patton dropped them in the middle of the crowd, and soon the path they’d formed had closed behind them. A sea of people surrounded them, and Logan felt like there was no space to move. “We’ll see the stage better.”

From their place, Logan couldn’t see Virgil anywhere on said stage. Another band must be playing before them, he reasoned.

“When does the little emo begin?” Roman asked over the sound.

“Right after these guys!” Patton answered, yelling at them to be heard. “He sent me a message, says they’re almost over!”

Their music was heavy, and the speakers were too loud. It resonated through his entire body, almost as if the drummer was right next to his ear. The people jumped, up and down, and Logan felt like the space was too crowded, too little air.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and Roman’s face was next to his in seconds.

“Do you wanna step out for a while?” he sort of yelled into his ear. Logan nodded. “Alright. Hey, Pat!”

Patton turned to them, questioning them with his eyes.

“I’m taking Logan out for air, we’ll come back when Virgil’s on, okay?”

The teen lifted both thumbs in the air and Roman took him by the arm. He guided him out of the crowd and ordered two drinks from the barman. Logan tried calming himself by pressing both hands on the bar to ground himself. It wasn’t reasonable to feel overwhelmed like this, he knew that, but he definitely hadn’t been to a place like Green Peak in a long time. It felt like too much, too soon.

He felt Roman’s hand grabbing his to wrap it around a glass. Logan tried chugging down a big portion of it. Sure, putting some alcohol into his system could ease him a little.

“Alright, I’d slow it down if I were you,” Roman joked, even if his glass was already half empty. “I don’t want to carry you like a ragged doll back to your apartment.”

“Sorry.” Logan smiled down at his glass. Was the heat in his cheeks due to the embarrassment? Such an idiot… “It must’ve been a long time since we came to one of these.”

Roman nudged him with his elbow, “C’mon, are you serious? You can’t tell me my old soul is more used to this than you, youngest.”

“You’re only one year older,” Logan highlighted.

“When you’ve got my age, you’ll understand.”

Logan looked back down, letting the cold of his drink keep him away from the immensity of the crowd.

“Alright, come here.” Roman made him turn around, keeping him close by an arm slung around his shoulders. “I’ve got our next big plan.”

“Big plan?” Logan asked.

“Yeah, to throw Patton and Virgil off their rhythm.”

Right. Of course, he’d lost sight of that for a second.

“What do you have in mind?”

The coloured lights fell over Roman’s face, setting his features into a mix of neon purples, blues and greens. His smile didn’t shine any less bright though.

“That’s the spirit. Well, I’ve been thinking…”

“Such a terrible occurrence.”

“Shut it or I might forget about that second drink,” Roman dared him with his eyes. “As I was saying, I’ve been thinking, and my brother and his friend thought this would be a great chance for the two of us to finally  _ consummate our love _ .”

“Please, don’t you refer to us with that tone, ever again.”

“Point is, wouldn’t it be fucking hilarious if I left from here with  _ another date _ ?”

“And how do I fit into the picture?” he teased him. “Surely you wouldn’t leave me here to flirt with strangers, right?”

“Of course not,” Roman denied with his natural charm. “I need your statistics for this, my friend.”

“How so?”

“I need your help to figure out who from all the people in this room has the biggest possibilities of not hitting me in the face if I approached him.”

Logan laughed. He knew Roman could have any of the guys —and girls— from that bar if he wanted to. There were few times in which they’d gone out with common friends where he didn’t come out by the hand of another man. And at the same time, Logan was aware that what Roman was saying was utter  _ bullshit _ . He wouldn’t do it, not even to piss off his brother and his friends. But he knew Logan needed a distraction, and this was the next best thing he could come up with, he was sure of it.

“Alright,” he said, feigning to get into a serious, calculating face, “what are your options?”

“Nice to have you back. Okay, hmm.” He scanned the room before pointing with his finger towards a blond man with a pristine white shirt. “What about that one?”

Logan pretended to analyse him for a couple of seconds, but the answer was too obvious.

“Seems like a jerk,” he told Roman.

“Aren’t you being judgemental?”

“Look around. He’s got no one that seems to be at least friends with him,” Logan pointed out. “If you come to a bar alone, and by now there’s no one you seem to get on with, it’s possibly because you push people away. Wouldn’t recommend getting into something with an asshole.”

“Touche, we don’t want to kick anyone out of the apartment tomorrow.” Logan snickered. “What about him?”

He barely spared him a glance.

“I thought you had better taste.”

“Why?” Roman smiled, and with the UV lights it was blinding. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Not your target,” Logan shook his head before giving another sip to his drink.

“Oh, you think I can do better than that?” There was defiance in his tone. Logan loved a challenge, especially the ones coming from Roman. They were always the most fun to deal with, the man knew the exact way to push his buttons.

“Much better than that,” he granted knowingly.

“Sure,” Roman nodded, adventurous. “Then what about him?”

Logan looked at the man Roman had pointed at. White and black shirt, first two buttons undone. Shirt halfway tucked in his dark jeans, a casual mess meant to attract. His skin was tan, and his windswept hair was pushed back as he danced with a younger woman.

“Straight,” Logan determined as his final statement.

Roman snorted, “I mean, yeah, I’m not blind.”

“Then why wasting your time? I thought you didn’t want to be hit in the face.”

“You don’t think I can convince him?” his friend prompted him, and Logan had to laugh. He’d long since forgotten about the feeling from the crowd, but this was way too fun to let it pass.

“Not a chance,” he retorted, leaving the glass on the bar.

“Really? Not even I talk to him like this?” Roman said, leaning over until his lips were grazing Logan’s ear, subtle touches with every word coming out of his mouth. “Or if I touch him like this?”

He brushed the back of his fingers against his best friend’s cheek. Logan merely rolled his eyes. This wasn’t the first time Roman had jokingly flirted with him. Something in the atmosphere of bars like Green Peak had Logan convinced this effect was common. Music so loud you were incapable of thinking, alcohol coming in freely from everywhere that deprived you of common sense. Ending up in situations like this with your best friend was more than normal.

“I think you have too much faith in yourself.” He also talked directly into Roman’s ear, perhaps as a way of giving him a taste of his own medicine.

Roman’s fingers passed softly over his hair. “So I don’t have a chance?” he whispered, and Logan felt every word. “Not even one?”

Yes, situations like this might have been common between them. But the feeling of having Roman practically pressed up against him, with his hand on his hair and the impact of his breath sending electric impulses to each of his nerves… it made his stomach turn with the lowest of purrs. Logan put some distance between them, only to feel Roman’s chestnut gaze focused solely in his eyes, with rapturous attention.

“I don’t know,” he found himself saying, even if the words seemed to come out of nowhere. “Would you like to have one?”

Roman moved away, taking a long swing of his drink, and Logan almost missed having him near. The theatre student shrugs, leaving Logan more confused than he was seconds before.

“Nah, I think I’ll better stay here with you.” He smiled kindly at him. It wasn't the smile he wore before, something more personal. Not for potential dates or casual flings, only for his best friend.

Somehow, Logan didn’t find that thought as comforting as he knew he should.

The lights suddenly turned off, and when they came back, another set of instruments was positioned on stage. Roman’s face lit up, and he grabbed Logan by the wrist to pull him back into the menacing crowd.

He recognised Virgil as the teen grabbing the main microphone, electric guitar in hand. He poked the mic three times and the entire bar went silent.

“Hey,” he said, and a few cheers —especially from a certain 17-year-old— filled in the space. “So, we’re gonna open with a popular song you must know, you’re free to dance if you feel like it.”

The first notes flowed from the strings, and Logan recognised the tune immediately. It was a pop song, with undertones of rock, and it played on the radio every day without fault. Roman next to him shook him by the shoulder.

“Hey, I actually know this song!”

The people closed in on them until there was barely room to breathe. The lights went down, and as the first lyrics began to sound, Logan became the witness of a spectacle he’d never consider paying much attention to. No, it wasn’t Virgil’s magnificent ability with the guitar, or the way his voice had all the confidence one would assume he was lacking when you talked to him off stage.

The real spectacle was Roman. While everyone seemed to go up and down, falling heavily regardless of how the rhythm went, Roman seemed to float. He jumped as if he was flying in the air. His fist was raised in the air, and an absolute joy that reminded Logan of the younger Clark brother painted each of his features. His smile was wide as ever, showcasing the perfectly white delight that was attune with the rest of his body. He was dancing, he was singing, he was  _ living _ . The moshpit forced Logan to follow their moves, pushing him left and right, but Logan couldn’t tear his eyes away from him.

How many moments like this had he missed? How many times had he seen Roman in this liberated state and thought nothing of it? How long had he been ignoring the way his stomach seemed to turn, his breathing seemed to stop, and his vision blurred until Roman was all he could see?

Roman turned towards him, and the gravity disappeared. He felt like he was floating too, like his whole body gave away to the sense of freedom under his gaze.

He frowned.

“L?” Roman asked, but his voice sounded far off. “Are you alright?”

“I…”

Roman grabbed him by the shoulder, and Logan held onto that touch like a lifeline.

“Logan, are you okay?”

He wasn’t aware of how things progressed from there. What he knew was that suddenly, his back was against the floor and someone was blowing air into his face with a string of ‘Oh my gosh, I am so sorry’ falling from their mouth. But his eyes zeroed on Roman, lifting his legs on the air. As soon as their eyes connected, Roman smiled.

“Guess we’ll have to leave that second drink for another day.”

* * *

“You’ve got to admit though,” Virgil said stuffing his mouth with a handful of popcorn, “that Logan fainting in the middle of the mosh pit was the funniest way in which our plan could fail.”

Patton shoved him with his foot from the other end of the couch. Virgil couldn’t help the smile at the vision of his adorable flushed cheeks.

“Ugh, don’t remind me of it.” He threw his head back, almost knocking his glasses in the process. “I don’t think I’ve ever sent that many apology messages in my life.”

None of them were paying attention to the movie playing on the TV. It’d been long since their talking became more interesting than Dori’s plan to go back to the ocean. But Virgil didn’t mind. Even if the topic was their stupid improvised plan to put Roman and Logan together, it was still Patton who talked. He never minded when it was Patton.

“It still infuriates me, though.”

“That we had to take the bus again?” Virgil frowned, looking for the lost kernels in his clothes. “Yeah, if it were the two of us it might not have been that bad, but with the instruments and all…”

“Yeah… wait, no! That they don’t realise the truth!” Patton sat straighter against the couch’s armrest, moving the blanket thrown over both of their legs. “It’s like they refuse to see it!”

Virgil hummed in a flat tone. “Yeah. What a pair of idiots.”

“Like, you should’ve seen how they looked at each other, Virge! It was as if they had hearts instead of eyes or something…”

“Totally oblivious.”

“They’re ridiculous, in my opinion. How could you not realise that your best friend of years is in love with you?”

Virgil pursed his lips. “Yeah. They must be really dense for not noticing it.”

Patton huffed. “I love Roman, but sometimes he is a real idiot.”

“Must run in the family,” he muttered.

“Did you say something?”

“Not at all!”

Patton’s lips pressed into a thin line, watching as Virgil grabbed another bout of popcorn to fill his mouth with. Then he snapped his fingers.

Virgil jumped, startled. “Dude! You almost made me drop my popcorn!”

“Sorry!” Patton wrinkled his nose. Virgil could never stay mad when Patton wrinkled his nose. “But I think I’ve got our next step in the plan.”

* * *

“You should have seen him, Roman! His face was the face of disgust, he looked  _ pathetic _ .”

“And I’m sure you were very proud of that fact, weren’t you?” Roman smiled down at his soup bowl, holding the phone between his shoulder and ear.

“Of course,” Logan’s arrogant tone prompted a laugh from him. “He has the audacity to put in doubt my knowledge on chemicals when it was  _ him _ who asked me for help halfway through the course? He had it coming.”

“Ah, the dream of every nerd. To ridicule a classmate in front of the whole class.”

“It was a  _ dumb _ classmate. And he tried to do it first. It was really not my fault.”

Roman shook his head, twirling his spoon before shoving it on his mouth.

“How was your test, anyway? Did you do good?”

Logan snorted, “Who do you think you’re talking to?”

Roman rolled his eyes. He didn’t have to imagine the cockiness in Logan’s face. He’d seen it so many times it was almost engraved in his memory. He had to bite his lip to fight the stupid smile that threatened to split his face.

His brother’s plan to put the two of them together was stupid, but since the first ‘date’ he organised for them Roman began to reconsider what his friendship with Logan looked like for the rest. To do some… testing. Roman was sure his feelings for the nerd were purely platonic. They were best friends, party buddies and study mates. There wasn’t much more to it.

So what if seeing Logan’s name in his caller ID made his heart flutter in his chest? Friends got happy talking to each other. There were tons of non-romantic explanations to the lightness in his chest whenever his best friend talked passionately about his interests. That’s what friends do, encourage each other! Who cared if Roman flirted with him from time to time? Like, sure, there were other people, but Logan was  _ there _ . It wasn’t like he minded…

And what if after Logan’s blood pressure plummeted and he forced him to stay in his apartment to rest, Roman forgot about his perfectly comfortable bed in favour of a mattress in his living room, just to check the nerd sleeping in his couch wouldn’t wake up alone in the middle of the night?

Yeah. Purely platonic.

“This calls for a celebration, then.” He looked over at the many magnets in his fridge. “What do you say about Chinese this weekend at my place?”

“It depends,” Logan’s smartass voice said. “Are we getting takeout or will you attempt to cook again? Because I’d like to leave with my intestines intact this time.”

“I tried to make a nice dinner for you and that’s how you pay me?”

“You almost gave us  _ food poisoning _ , Roman.”

He huffed. “It’s the intention that counts.”

Logan’s low laugh rang in his ear, but it was rudely interrupted by the sound of his landline phone.

“Hang on, I gotta answer this.”

Leaving the phone on the table Roman went to pick the call up with a sigh.

“Why do you insist on calling me here when you  _ literally _ have a mobile phone in your hands at all times?”

“I want to make our calls special; this is our thing!” Patton rushed on the other side. “I need a favour.”

Roman squinted his eyes. “You’re asking for too many favours lately.”

“I know, but this one’s special, I can’t do this without you!”

Ouch, right in the big bro feelings.

“Alright little squirrel, what do you want?”

“Virgil and I wanted to go watch a movie that’s coming out this Friday, but it’s over 18 and we need to bring an adult with us.”

“What? Doesn’t Virgil already have a license? If you can drive you can stand a few jumpscares on the screen.”

“Not really my call, Ro.”

Roman looked up at the ceiling, briefly closing his eyes.

“At least can I bring someone with me?” he asked. It was better if he got Logan in the mix. Patton’s attempts were getting more and more adorably ridiculous.

“Yes!” his brother yelled with excitement. Roman snorted at the sound of someone’s elbow taking the air out of his lungs. “I mean, yeah, sure, if h-they’re cool with that!”

“Alright,” Roman sighed dramatically. “As long as no one ends up at the verge of dying this time.”

“Not if the plan goes right- ouch, that one hurt!” Roman disguised his chuckle with a cough as the two teenagers settled their dispute on the other side of the phone. “What I meant is, no one will get hurt. Your date will be 100% safe with us.”

“Sure, I’ll tell Logan and I’ll let you know then.”

“So Logan is your date?”

Roman felt the heat pool in his cheeks. Thank God Patton couldn’t see his face.

“No, I… I wouldn’t call him my  _ date _ .”

“I mean, you  _ sort of _ implied it, Ro.”

“No, I told you he was coming before!”

“No, you didn’t.”

Ugh, he lived with Patton for a long part of his life. He knew the type of shit-eating grin he was making.

“I… uh… Bye.”

He hung up just in time to hear the giggles. Still feeling a bit flustered, Roman picked up the phone he left on the table.

“Hey,” he ran a hand through his face to cool down, “I’m back.”

“Hi.” Logan sounded worried. “Everything okay? You went for too long for a wrong number.”

“Yeah, I…” he cleared his throat. “I might have a change of plans? What do you say about a film this Friday instead?”

“Oh, are we marathoning?” Roman could visualize the spark of excitement in his face. “Because I found this tv-show that I think you would like—”

“No,” he cut him off with a smile, “actually… Patton and Virgil need me to take them to the movies for an over 18 film, and they said—”

“That you could bring a friend? Wow, you’d think they’d stop after the second time we almost had to go to the hospital.”

“Hospital? Why would you need a hospital when we’ve got my Clark healing methods?”

“I said  _ almost _ , didn’t I?”

“Fair. So what do you say? A scary movie to lift the spirits?”

Logan pondered from his side of the line. Roman liked to think he was sticking his lip out, in that silly pout he always had when he got deep in thought. Not like Roman found it adorable or anything.

“I mean… it’s not what I had in mind,” he finally said, “But sure. We haven’t gone to the cinema in ages.”

“Awesome, I’ll tell Patton you’re coming then.”

“Such a shame though,” Logan sighed. “I got excited with Chinese.”

Roman gave one look at the half-empty bowl of soup on his table.

He sighed. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving.”

“Then come over, I’ll call for the take out.”

“That’s why we’re best friends.”

Normally, he would hang up, waiting for the mat of black hair to arrive at his window. But a thought bubbled in his mind and the words were out before he could stop them.

“And on Friday… dress cute. None of those sweaters and shirts you usually put on. If I’m gonna go out with a date, he better look stunning.”

He waited for the longest seconds of his life. Roman wanted to hit his head against the wall. But Logan’s voice when he answered was nothing but challenging.

“I thought you liked my sweaters and shirts.”

“Oh, I do. It’s just that this time I trust your abilities to… overdo it,” he winked at no one in particular. There goes trying not to feel stupid. “Sweep me off my feet, my love.”

“Okay.” He could  _ hear _ the dare in his smile. “Deal.”

“Alright.”

“Sure.”

“Sealed, then.”

Roman let a couple of seconds tick by where nothing but his drumming heart pounded in his ear.

“So, see you in fifteen minutes?”

“Make it ten,” Logan said, and the tingling of his keys made Roman’s grin go wider.

“Kay, see ya.”

He hung up, breathing in and out to take the heat off of his face.

Yeah…

Definitely platonic.

* * *

“What if the bus crashed?”

“I’m sure it didn’t.”

“What if it hit a car?”

“It hasn’t!”

“Oh my god, what if  _ he _ was hit by a car?”

“Virgil, everything will be fine!” Patton calmed his best friend by grabbing both of his wrists in the air. “Logan is probably already on his way here.”

Virgil breathed in and out for the fifth time in his attempt to calm his nerves. He looked very cute today, with his black knit sweater and his eyeliner to match. Patton liked that look on him.

“Chill, Panic at the Everywhere,” Roman smiled down at his phone, recalling the friendly nickname from ages ago. “He texted me he was around the corner like five minutes ago. He must be getting here already.”

“I think that’s him!” Patton pointed at the figure walking towards them and waved. “Hi, Logan!”

Logan waved back, but as he got closer Patton’s hand froze in the air.

Wow.

He’d been so used to a pair of black glasses always sitting on top of the man’s nose that seeing his face without them was… weird. Logan greeted them with a sheepish smile. Virgil looked at him with his mouth halfway open, and both him and Patton turned to see Roman’s reaction.

His brother lifted the sight from his phone, and he had to double check when Logan stood under the same lamppost as them. He stared at his face for longer than normal, and Patton felt a giddy laugh bloom inside him with the light curl of Roman’s lips. But as soon as his eyes went down, he frowned.

“Hang on.” He moved forward to grab the rim of Logan’s dark denim jacket. “Where did you take this from?”

“Excuse me?” Logan lifted an eyebrow. “You told me I had to dress nicely; did I get your message wrong?”

Patton tried and failed to subtly nudge Virgil with his elbow. Luckily Roman was too focused on inspecting the fabric to notice.

“No, no that’s not… I know all your closet, this jacket isn’t yours,” he looked up at Logan, but actively avoided his eyes. “Where did you get it from?”

“I borrowed it from a friend. It might surprise you, but you’re not the only person I know, Roman.” He snatched the jacket from Roman’s grip and gave the teens a friendlier look. “So, are we getting in?”

“Yup! Here are your tickets!” Patton gave him the two pieces of paper and grabbed Virgil by the wrist. “C’mon, we gotta grab out seats!”

They ran before the adults could catch up with them. Once they got to the function, Patton encouraged Virgil to get to their assigned seats: on the top row, for a better view.

“I feel nervous,” Virgil whispered to him as people began to sit down. Patton calmed him with a reassuring hand on his knee.

“You’re always nervous. It’s alright! I have faith this one’s going to work.”

“How are you so sure?” Virgil asked, tugging from his sweater’s sleeves.

“Roman’s wearing his red bomber jacket,” Patton told him with far more excitement than the phrase deserved. His friend’s brow furrowed.

“And?”

Patton rolled his eyes. “I’ve seen Roman get ready for dates for  _ years _ . He only wears the red bomber jacket when he wants to impress someone.”

“Really?”

“I don’t think he does it consciously, but I noticed the pattern like, four years ago.”

“Wow,” Virgil muttered. His eyes got fixed on the baby blue t-shirt Patton wore. The one he reserved for special occasions.

“I know right?” He looked to the front and started slapping his friend’s arm when he noticed the two familiar figures walking in. “Shh, shh, shh, shh, they’re getting in!”

* * *

“And why did you take off your glasses?”

Logan rolled his eyes. “We’ve been over this. You told me to dress nicely, and it’s statistically proven people with glasses look better without them.”

“And what are the statistics for that, huh?”

“86% of the time.”

“I wasn’t— your glasses aren’t the problem! I just wanna know where you got the jacket!”

Logan shushed him looking down at the tickets. “Tell me where the kids are.”

“Uhhh,” Roman stretched his neck to find the teenagers. “On the top rows. Where are our seats?”

“Huh, that’s weird.”

Roman arched an eyebrow at him. “What’s weird, Logan?”

“It says our seats are right here.”

He pointed at the two empty slots on the very first row. Roman took a deep breath and grabbed Logan by the wrist.

“Alright,” he said while he dragged them to their places, “it’s fine! First row might not be the best, I can’t throw popcorn and scare them from here, but hey! At least we can make fun of them without them hearing us, right?”

“I guess you’re right,” Logan mussed, scratching his cheek.

Roman looked around as the rest of the people took their seats, many of them coming hand in hand.

“You know, I didn’t expect many people to have ‘people-eating clowns’ in their plans for a date.” Logan hummed in question. “There are a lot of couples here. Seems like we’re not the only weirdos here.”

That made Logan frown and take the tickets out once more to give them a second look.

“Uh… Roman?”

“Yeah?” he asked, eyes still on the crowd settling.

“Did you ask Patton and Virgil what movie we were watching?”

“No, why?”

“Because I don’t think something titled  _ Candles and Roses _ will have any murder clown in it.”

* * *

He was going to kill Patton. Perhaps Virgil too. If he was feeling generous.

The problem wasn’t that they’d made them sit for a romcom. He and Logan had watched many of those before, Roman wasn’t afraid of chick flicks. But putting the word ‘date’ in the mix made things 100% more awkward.

If that wasn’t enough, the couple next to him hadn’t stopped making out and doing weird noises during the entire film. Roman was seconds away from flying from the theatre in second-hand embarrassment.

“Who is the cutest guy? You are my cutesy guy,” the girl said with a chihuahua voice that threatened to bore holes in Roman’s ears.

“If I have to hear them kiss one more time, I swear I’m wreaking havoc,” he whispered at Logan.

His friend snorted, and leaned to whisper in his ear.

“Hey, do you want to mess with your brothers?”

“Excuse me, brother-s? Plural? I don’t remember having adopted an emo raccoon as a sibling.”

“You say that as if you hadn’t tried to pass as his brother just to assist his band performance in junior year.”

“Your point being?”

“Well, we have to ruin their plan somehow, right?”

“I’m listening…”

“Put your arm around my shoulder.”

Roman’s head snapped as it turned to face him. Logan had the most dull and serious expression in his face.

“Oh, you’re not joking, are you?”

“You have to trust me,” he said. “It will make us laugh a little.”

“Okay…”

No, of course his heart didn’t accelerate as the fabric of his sleeve brushed against Logan’s back. Don’t be ridiculous. At first his hand was curled on an unsure fist, but then he relaxed his fingers to wrap them comfortably around his friend’s shoulder.

From the background, a muffled shriek came to their ears.

They laughed lowly, Roman putting a hand over his mouth to keep the sound from coming out. Logan laughed as he always did, with his head pulled slightly down, his left eye winking a little. Roman always thought it looked…

No. He forced himself to look ahead at the screen. No, he wasn’t going to start thinking about Logan’s laugh. Friends didn’t do that, and they were the best of friends. Yeah. He couldn’t make things weird, not even in his head. No, they were normal friends on a night out trying to annoy his little brother. Nothing but…

“I think it worked,” Logan said, eyes shining with amusement.

“Your new devil energy is surprising me, I’m not gonna lie.”

“You want to make this worse?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Okay, you will have to trust me in this one.”

“Don’t I always?”

Logan offered him a last smile, and leaned his head until it was resting on his shoulder. Roman didn’t dare to move. His friend shifted closer, seeking comfort, and Roman felt how from shoulder to wrist and all the right side of his body he could feel Logan’s body heat traveling through him. Another shriek sounded in the far back, and some people made shushing sounds but he wasn’t listening. Roman was too busy focusing on the little stream of air that left Logan’s nose and impacted against his naked neck. Or in the way his own arm had lowered until he could graze his friend’s fingers, which Logan didn’t miss the chance to interlace with his.

“I think my plan was a success,” he said, and the movement of his lips ran a shiver down Roman’s spine, “don’t you think?”

A success? Yeah, if the plan consisted of making his heart beat like a drum set during a rock concert. Oh gosh, could he feel the beating in his chest? Roman snapped his eyes shut. Platonic, platonic, it’s purely platonic. Damn, he had to think straight.

He looked down at his slowly curling fist in the armrest. And the drink sitting in front of it.

“Hey, I might have an idea to ruin this.”

“What?”

He barely had time to register the astonishment in Logan’s voice before knocking the drink to the side, spreading all of its content in the annoying woman’s tight dress.

“Oh my gosh!” she stood up, open hands flapping in the air. “You ruined my outfit!”

Roman stood up at the same time, sort of relieved he could unstick himself from Logan’s side but missing his presence at the same time.

“I’m so sorry, Miss,” he said, but it was clear in his voice he wasn’t. The relief was too obvious. “I swear it was an accident.”

“No, it wasn’t, you… you stupid jerk!” she yelped with her high tone. Roman was pretty sure her shrieks must break the sound barrier.

“What are you insinuating? That I knocked a whole drink on you on purpose, that’s ridiculous!”

Logan was soon by his side, grabbing him by the elbow and with a serious face. He could see the torch turning on and off on them telling them to sit down.

“Roman, perhaps you shouldn’t—”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” Roman shook his head before turning back at the lady.

“You’re gonna pay for this, you asshole!”

“Why, I already said I was sorry!”

“Just leave my girlfriend alone and sit down,” her presumed boyfriend voiced from his seat.

“Yeah, or what?” Roman boasted with way too much confidence. “You’re gonna hit me?”

But said confidence vanished when the guy stood up, rising a head and a half above him. And you’ve got to understand, Roman’s not a short guy. He’s pretty average. But this guy was even taller than Logan, and he was 6 ft. tall.

“Maybe,” the man said, and Roman could swear he  _ growled _ at him.

“Alright,” Logan said, pushing Roman behind him to protect him from his own stupidity for sure. “There’s no need for any conflict here.”

“Sirs, I will need you to leave the building,” an usher said. Logan flashed them the smile that makes both parents and professors like him on the spot.

“Of course, we’re deeply sorry.” He grabbed Roman by the shoulder and pushed him towards the exit. “C’mon, let’s go before you cause any more trouble.”

He sighed, pressing his lips into a tight smile, and nodded. But before they could leave, the deep voice called out behind them:

“Yeah, leave so you can let the normal couples enjoy a quiet night for once.”

Saying Logan stomped his feet down would be an understatement. His entire face contorted into an expression Roman had never seen before as he slowly turned around to face the tall guy glaring at them.

“I’m sorry, I might have misheard you,” he spoke calmly, and that made it even more frightening, “but what did you just say?”

“Exactly what you heard, dude. There are hundreds of couples in this room trying to get a nice night, and you come here to insult my girl and rub your atrocious liberal rights in our faces as if that weren’t gross?”

“Gross?” Logan repeated with disgust. Roman noticed his fists curling at the sides.

“You and your boyfriend better leave before I decide to shake your stupid senses with my right hook.”

“My apologies, but it seems that it’s not us the ones disrupting the peace and quiet of this room,” Logan spat with the coldest glare Roman had seen on him. “Perhaps if you and your stupid girlfriend weren’t making kissy faces at each other and moaning your way through the movie she wouldn’t have her outfit ruined like that.”

“Sir, I need you to step out—”

“What did you just call my girlfriend?” the guy stepped closer.

“Security, we need you to come and take these men out—”

“Exactly what you heard,” Logan squinted.

Before Roman could say anything, the man swung his right arm and crashed his knuckles against Logan’s face.

* * *

“Hey, I can walk on my own, thank you very much.” Roman shook the hands of the security men from his shoulders. With a disgruntled huff, they closed the door behind them.

Roman sighed, making his way to where Logan sat on the pavement. The night was cold, enough to make him shake under his jacket. With a sigh, he pushed his head back. The stars blinked at him in turn in the clear sky.

“He did have a powerful hook.”

He snorted at Logan’s small joke. His left eye was beginning to bruise, and a small thread of blood fell from the cut in his cheekbone.

“Ow man,” Roman said. “Your jacket.”

Logan looked down at his shoulder and cursed under his breath. Droplets of scarlet looked dark where they stained the denim, still visible from where Roman sat. Taking it out, Logan passed his fingers over the blood, but the mark was already ingrained in the fabric.

“You think your friend will mind?”

Logan snorted, a bitter smile taking place in his lips. “I don’t think so. It’s not like he can take it back or anything.”

Roman frowned questioningly. Logan released a huff, averting his eyes.

“The jacket’s Kevin’s.”

“Oh, Logan…” Roman mumbled.

“He forgot it at my place one day, and after everything that happened… let’s say he never came for it.” He shrugged, lips pulling up in the right corner. “After everything he took I thought, ‘why not keeping this’, you know?”

“But why ‘d you wear it today?” Roman’s forehead creased when he lifted an eyebrow.

“You said I had to  _ overdo _ it. This was the nicest thing I had that wasn’t, well, ‘average’.”

Roman realised with a weight falling in his stomach the impact his words had had on his friend. He pursed his lips, eyeing the other sideways as he caressed the denim in his hands.

“Not like it matters, but I love your stupid sweaters and shirts, okay? I didn’t want to imply otherwise when I said that,” he claimed, shrugging his jacket off.

Logan frowned, “What are you doing?”

“But, if I may,” he continued, fixing his favourite jacket over the shoulders of his best friend, “we can fix the other part.”

Logan picked the rim of it between his fingers, the question clear in his eyes.

“Now you’ve got something nice,” Roman said. “But it’s not from the jerk-face of your ex.”

They laughed, and Logan’s hurt eye winked as it always did.

“Ouch.” He lifted his hand, not quite touching the skin.

“Let’s see that wound, you reckless soldier.”

Logan rolled his eyes as Roman brought his face closer for inspection. The pads of his fingers were lightly posed on Logan’s jaw, bringing his face only a breath distance away. Roman gulped just noticing how soft the skin under his touch felt. He’d shaved for that night, that dork.

“It’s already bruising, isn’t it?” Logan’s words impacted against his mouth. It took all of Roman’s willpower to ignore it.

“Yeah, I guess that’ll leave a mark for a few days.”

“Damn it.” Roman moved his fingers up the other’s cheek, cleaning with his thumb the thread of red that stained his cheekbone. “I have to apologize. I know my behaviour was a bit… berserk.” Roman laughed. “But I couldn’t stand there while he said those things about you.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry too,” he echoed, moving his friend’s face until they were eye to eye. “If I hadn’t dropped that drink, he wouldn’t have hit you.”

Logan smiled down with a snort.

“What?” Roman asked.

“It’s just that, you do this thing,” he pointed at his face with an index, “where you wrinkle your nose every time you apologise. You look exactly like your brother when you do that.”

“Ugh, yeah, sorry I know it’s childi— shit, I did it again, didn’t I?”

That brought another laugh from Logan that shook Roman to the chore in a very pleasant way.

“You don’t have to apologise,” he said. “I think it’s cute.”

Roman felt stunned by his words, the earthquake in his heart drowning almost every other sound. His hand ended up practically cupping Logan’s cheek, and it felt so nice he never wanted to break that single point of contact. He looked at Logan and nothing else could capture his view like those stupidly beautiful blue eyes looking back. They felt so close, only inches away. It would be easy for him to lose himself in them, just stare and stare until there was nothing else for him to do but…

“Hang on, weren’t you wearing contacts today?”

“What?” Logan frowned, dreamy smile still hanging from his lips, until realisation came down and he started to swear.

Roman sat there, looking at the idiot he got for a best friend say how much it would hurt to take them out, how he should get an ice pack as soon as possible, and how much the bus fare most cost this late, and he realised he’s fucked.

Platonic his ass. He definitely fell in love with that nerd.

* * *

Patton pushes the door open, and there they are. Roman and Logan —who’s wearing Roman’s jacket with the denim one tucked under his arm— arguing about something.

“No, I am taking you, end of discussion.”

“Roman!” he said, hearing Virgil’s steps falling shortly behind him. Always following him, never leaving. “Roman, is Logan okay? Are you guys alright?”

“Yeah, don’t worry,” Roman calmed him with his trademark smile. “I’ll take this guy back to his apartment for a nice ice pack before it gets puffy and ugly.”

“No, I will take the bus and you will drive them home,” Logan counter offered.

“I already said I’m taking you, no change of plans.”

“But—”

“Get in the car, you know I won’t let you dissuade me.”

Logan opened his mouth, but one of Roman’s daring looks later he gave up on his attempts and walked over to Roman’s black Vento.

“And what about us?” Virgil frowned.

“You think you can tell your parents to stay at home?” Roman asked.

“Uhm.” Virgil looked at him. Patton nodded. “Yeah, sure?”

“Cool, then I’ll call mum to pick you up.”

“What?” Patton said. His mother would mock them for  _ days _ after their third fail. “No, can’t you take us before driving Logan?”

“That’s a no, my friend,” Roman pursed his lips. “Gotta help the ruckus before his eye looks like a meatball.”

“I’m not a ruckus!” Logan shouted from his seat.

“He is,” he winked at them behind the back of his hand. “No wait tight, would you?”

Patton looked dumbfounded as Roman went back to his car, bickering with Logan all the way, and drove off to the distance. Next to him, Virgil sighed heavily.

“Alright… look at the bright side. We’re not taking the bus this time.”

“Virge?”

“Uh-hm?”

“Can you hug me?”

“Uhh…” he hesitated. “Sure?”

Once wrapped by Virgil’s arms, Patton shrieked. 

* * *

Virgil blew a strand of hair out of his eye as Kelly Clark giggled in the background.

“And then-” she waited to gather air, “then he stood up and-”

“And got punched on the face!” Patton explained with an angry jab of his fork in the air. “Because some idiot man decided to be homophobic, couldn’t they cross paths with a flat Earth believer instead?”

Henry Clark covered his mouth with a napkin in an attempt to keep himself from spitting his food.

“I’ve always said Logan was too clever for his own good, poor boy.”

“I can’t wait to tell all of this to your mother next Christmas,” Kelly laughed.

“They’re going to kill me,” Patton sighed. “If they keep screwing up our plans and hurting themselves in the process, I won’t make it to my eighteenth birthday.”

Virgil saw the Parent Look™ between Patton’s parents.

“Uh, Pop?” Patton perked up at the nickname. “Have you considered that… perhaps you shouldn’t be doing this in the first place?”

“Huh?” his friend frowned.

“You know, we told you from the beginning this plan of yours was,” his mother hesitated, “risky? People’s feelings are a difficult subject, not something you can clear up with a few special lights and a nice dinner.”

“You haven’t seen them, mum.” Patton pushed his food around on his plate. “Roman was… he was glowing. Like, every time they’re together it’s, I don’t know, different? I hadn’t noticed before Virgil pointed it out to me, but now that I know it’s so  _ obvious _ .”

He pursed his lips, eyes casted downwards at his forgotten dinner.

“I just want him to be happy,” he confessed. “But I guess that if nothing is working…”

“Maybe because we’re doing it wrong.”

Virgil felt the weight of the Clark family’s stares on him. Patton’s gentle eyes encouraged him to talk again.

“What I mean is,” he cleared his throat, “maybe we tried the wrong route. Always in open places, packed with people… that’s not how people realise they’re in love. It’s- it’s the peace, and quiet.”

He remembered the moment he knew he’d fallen in love with Patton. It was a nice autumn morning. He’d stayed the night at his house, and they were having a quiet breakfast the day after. They were silent; Virgil cramming his mug of coffee, Patton with his soon-to-be tea. He was pouring the water, half-asleep, and a powerful yawn he could barely repress made Patton accidentally knock the cup over, hot water ending everywhere on the counter.

At first, both of them were stunned, not awake enough to react in the moment. But then…

Then Patton laughed. And he covered his mouth to avoid waking up his parents, the sounds escaping nonetheless through his fingers. And his eyes crinkled in the corners, little lines that Virgil knew damn well. And he looked at Virgil with those sweet, sweet eyes, and Virgil couldn’t ignore how loud his heart thumped inside his chest even if he wanted to.

Now those same eyes widened next to him as the sound of his fork falling filled the air.

“Oh my God. Virgil Thompson!” Patton shrieked, shaking him from the shoulder. “You’re a genius!”

“Yeah?” he said with a tentative smile.

“Yes! They don’t need big displays of romantic love to realise their feelings, they need a place where they can be them!” Patton gasped, “I think I’ve got an idea. Quick, come to my room. Thanks mum, thanks dad, dinner was delicious!”

And leaving a trail of lost words, Patton hopped off his chair and sprinted to his bedroom. Still on his seat, Virgil sighed.

“Don’t worry, honey.” Kelly’s hand placed over his, her warm eyes being a reassuring comfort. “One day he’ll notice too.”

Virgil snorted.

“I hope so,” he said, already moving his chair back. “Thanks for the dinner Ms Clark.”

* * *

“I need your help.”

“No, Roman, I don’t think you can grow a beard in a week,” Logan said after answering the phone. “You barely got a stubble last time you tried, just get over it.”

“What? No, I… I could get a great beard if I wanted to, that’s not the point.” Logan scoffed. “I’ve got a red code.”

Logan looked outside. The wind was so strong the trees from his street hit their branches against his window.

“Is it that important?”

“Dude, Patton asked me for help on a school project he needs to hand in tomorrow. I cheated my way through high school, there’s no way I can be of any help.”

Logan looked down at the pjs he still hadn’t got out of.

“Listen, I know it’s a Sunday, but I just need your beautiful brain for-”

“Alright,” he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll go. But you better be waiting for me with a hot cocoa or I’ll make your brother fail.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” Roman scoffed. “You’re way too nice to do that.”

“Don’t test my patience.” He ignored the heat pooling in his face. “See you in fifteen.”

“Make it ten?” Roman’s words were tinted with a faint hope.

The smile was inevitable at this point.

“Sure.”

Logan was a man of science. When he was faced with a question, he proposed a theory, tested it for results, and confronted its consequences. But no incognita in his life had been as hard to solve as his relationship with Roman Clark.

A theory began to surface with the execution of Patton’s and Virgil’s plan. After that concert when the question became clear, he did his investigation, tested what his feelings were in regards to the theatre student. And after a night out at the cinema with lots of proximity, whispered words and loving gifts, Logan came to a conclusion. He was deeply in love with his best friend.

Now, one would expect for their relationship to become this awkward unspoken thing, but this hadn’t been the case. Nothing changed between them. Logan still went over to Roman’s to help him rehearse his lines. Roman still asked Logan to stay for dinner like every other night. They still bickered about their cooking skills, only to resort to take out afterwards. No, nothing about their dynamics changed.

What was left unsaid? Yes, that might be another thing entirely. For now, when their eyes met over crumpled scripts, there was a new glint shining in them. And when Roman asked him to stay, the new inflection in his voice made Logan’s breath go extinct. And when their hands brushed, both in the search for the discarded napkins on the coffee table, there was a moment of doubt where so many words could fit…

Logan knew he was prolonging the inevitable. That at some point, one of them would make a mistake and whatever hell was kept inside them would break loose. But if keeping his feelings at bay meant Roman would still ask him for help with code red calls at 6 pm on a Sunday, he’d gladly await the expected disaster.

“Okay,” he said, fitting in his occupied arms through Roman’s tiny window, “I didn’t know what emergency we were talking about so I brought Chemistry books, Maths, a History manual I had laying around and an Art book I’m  _ sure _ you left last time we studied together-”

“No, you could have told me before!”

Logan looked up, one leg still out in the unforgiving cold. Roman stood in the middle of his living room, dressed on an old white t-shirt and crown-patterned flannel pants. He had one hand tangled in his chestnut curls, the other pressing a hand to his ear. He was frowning.

“Yeah, and what do I tell Logan now, that he has to turn back? Do you know how cold it is outside?” A pause. “Of course I told him to come, how else could I help you in a ‘school project’ otherwise?” Another pause. “Tell Virgil that if he insults me there are fewer chances of me actually helping you, guys…”

He looked at Logan and made motions for him to get in. As Logan left the books piled on the round table, Roman closed the window, keeping the chill wind out of the apartment. But he never stopped shaking his head.

“Fine, okay. Sure, I’ll help you,” he rolled his eyes. “But it’s the last time I do this, alright?”

Logan snorted. He said that every time, the kids would be dumb to believe him by now. Roman hung up and gave him a very tired look.

“It’s in moments like this I wish I was an only child.”

“You don’t,” Logan said. “What happened?”

“Turns out the project Patton was talking about was about tracing his family’s roots.” Roman flopped into his couch, head resting on his joined hands. “He wants me to go through my photo albums for a picture of us when we were younger.”

“Okay…” Logan tapped his fingers on the hardback of his books. “I mean… it doesn’t seem…”

“Like a part of their plan?” Roman offered sitting back. “I know, but still. Shouldn’t have asked you to come for this, it’s silly.”

“I mean, sort of…”

He saw his friend run a hand over his face. “Look, if you want to go back it’s okay, I’ll look for the photo and that’s it.”

Logan bit the inside of his cheek.

“Or…”

“Or?” Roman repeated with a frown.

“I could stay, and instead of kicking me out with this weather, you could make me that hot cocoa you promised me and we look for that photo together.”

“You sure?” Roman asked, but he was already making his way to the kitchen.

“Of course.” Logan smiled after him. “We can always watch a movie together afterwards, right?”

“Cool. The albums are in the cupboard under the TV,” Roman pointed with his head.

Something Logan came to learn about Roman was he was a sentimental guy. He was the friend who always made sure there were pictures of the best moments, otherwise how would they remember them once they got old? Which obviously meant he had thousands and thousands of photos stacked in old University sized books. Logan was pretty sure he had Medicine textbooks the size of those albums.

They placed the piles of memories on the coffee table alongside their respective mugs and began their chase. Logan had seen many of the pictures before. Roman had shared with him the pics he’d considered funny, but there were many others he had never seen.

As he crossed his legs on the couch, Logan discovered a picture of Roman’s first theatre play in kinder, his entire face painted like a knight proper of a fairy tale. Roman handed him his cup, the one he’d bought exclusively for him, as Logan found one of the Clark family at the zoo. Logan laughed, nudging Roman by the shoulder and pointing at a picture of him with seven years old, two teeth missing from a broad smile.

They lost track of time. With Roman pressed against him, the entire couch occupied with pages of memories leaving them enough space to sit one next to the other, it was easy to forget about the clock. They fell into an easy rhythm. They always did. Logan pointed to the photos and Roman told the stories behind them. Many of them, he’d known about. Logan had been invited to lots of family meetings where he heard the craziest, funniest stories Roman had been the protagonist of. But the most sentimental, the ones that held a close connection with Roman’s heart… those were new.

He’d been so focused on Roman’s low voice, toned down for the emotions in his words, that he almost missed the last picture of the page.

“What about this one?”

Logan took the photo out of the film that retained it. As soon as Roman saw it, a sweet smile hung from his lips. The picture depicted a younger version of the Clark brothers. Patton sat on Roman’s shoulders; their hands joined in the air. In the background, the night lights of the Disney castle lit up the sky.

“God, I had forgotten about this one.” He leaned over, pointing with his pinkie at Patton and him. “Pat was five by then, and I was fifteen, I think? It was the first time we went to DisneyLand.”

Logan smiled. The teenage version of Roman looked at Patton with the same love the current Roman looked at the picture. Logan was an only child. He’d never had a bond as tight with anyone that wasn’t remotely his age. Roman’s and Patton’s relationship was something he’d always treasured from afar. To some extent, he’d also come to think of the young boy as his own sibling.

“Did you know we came out together?”

“No way,” Logan turned to him as Roman nodded.

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “He wanted to tell mum and dad at dinner. Said he didn’t want to lie to them anymore.”

“Oh my god.”

“Really cute, right?” Roman’s eyes flew back to the picture. “I didn’t want to tell them right then, though. Not because I didn’t trust them or anything, but… I don’t know, I just wanted to keep it to myself a little longer.”

“So?” he arched an eyebrow.

“Pat got a little nervous.” Roman remembered this with a smile, eyes lost in a memory Logan couldn’t see. “He started stammering, saying ‘Mum, dad, I gotta tell you something’, and nothing else after that. Then he said ‘I’m gay!’, all out of a sudden.” He chuckled. “He looked so terrified and our parents weren’t saying anything, so I blurted out ‘I like guys too!’.”

“You’re joking,” Logan said.

“I swear I’m not!” Roman certified with a grin. “You can ask mum next Christmas! We had to share the weight of it.”

Logan joined Roman in his laugh, both of their sides pressed against one another. The cold from outside had long since been forgotten. All Logan could feel now was Roman’s warmth.

“You sure act tough with him but you’re the sweetest brother Patton could’ve had.”

Roman hesitated between breaths. “Well, it’s the one he got.” He cleared his throat, taking the picture from Logan’s hands. “What do you say, will this one be okay?”

“It’s perfect,” Logan assured him. Just as Roman picked up his phone to send the pic to Patton he eyed the contents of the album the other had cast aside. “Are there more pictures in that one?”

“Yeah,” Roman frowned as he tapped the message. “Why?”

“Can we see those?”

His friend glanced curiously at him.

“You sure?” The ghost of a smile lingered in his voice.

Logan shrugged. “I came here with the idea of a good hot cocoa and some math problems and you failed to deliver both.”

“Hey, I thought you liked my hot cocoa!”

“Unimportant,” Logan smiled. “But since we got stuck in this, why not continuing? I’d love to know the embarrassing stories you hide in those books.”

“Alright,” Roman agreed in the same way. “Two tickets down memory lane, then.”

The hours passed as quickly as the pages they flipped. While a deep voice retold tales of teenage years, the sun began to set in New York. A soft orange hue gave the photos an ancient aspect. The shadows shifted in Roman’s face when he smiled, pointing at the ones Logan’s curiosity asked for. While he spoke about the surprise party he had at seventeen, Roman’s arm slid on the back of the couch. With the chuckle at Roman’s expression when they gave him his first car at nineteen, Logan leaned against his friend’s side. In hushed whispers, lips way too close to Logan’s ear, Roman told him about the time he and his high school friends went on a road trip to the beach.

Photo after photo, the Roman Logan knew appeared in front of his eyes. With a picture in front of NYU, he recognised the start of Roman’s career as a student of the arts. An image of the same apartment they were in, without furniture to fill it, marked the place that saw their friendship grow. And in a flash of rainbows and colours…

“Oh my God,” Logan said, bringing the book closer as he pulled his legs up to the couch. “I can’t believe you kept this one.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Roman laughed. “I wouldn’t leave out of my memories the day we met.”

Logan remembered that day. A Pride event at NYU, the first one he’d gone to since he transferred there. With a rainbow painted on his cheek and a patterned tie to go with, he’d almost run over a guy with a pride flag tied as a cape.

The picture in question was disastrous. It showed the two of them, shortly after the incident, having a quick meal at a nearby McDonald’s. The two of them were worn out for the celebration, looking close to dehydration, but with big smiles on their faces.

“We talked a lot that day,” Logan remembered out loud. “I never had to be kicked out of an establishment for staying over closing hours before.”

Roman snickered in his ear, and the sound made Logan’s heart flutter in his chest.

“At least they were nice enough to give us a refill,” he said.

“Do you ever think how unlikely it would’ve been that we met?” Logan turned slightly towards him. He wasn’t surprised to find Roman was too close. Neither of them moved. “If it weren’t for the parade…”

“We wouldn’t have met?” Roman took his time to continue after Logan’s hum. “Yeah. Sometimes I think about it. I never thought I would be friends with a Medicine student of all things, iugh,” he made a grimace.

“Excuse me,” Logan lifted an eyebrow at Roman’s amused face. “ _ I _ never imagined being friends with a Theatre student either.”

“Good thing you bumped into me that day, then.”

His smile was so intoxicating. Too bright, even in the growing darkness of the upcoming night. Logan went back to the album.

“I suppose I’ll find more shameful pictures from us now, right?”

“Only one way to find out,” Roman spoke into his ear.

Despite the shiver Logan flipped to the next page. He couldn’t have been more right. From that point onwards, Logan was present in almost every picture. Some of them came to him easily, the memories fresh in his brain. Like the one Roman took right before going to see Hadestown, with him hugging Logan by the neck, faces squished together. Or one from their Mexican food nights, Logan sticking his tongue out at him while Roman watched him make guacamole, his face poking at the right corner of the frame.

But there were others he had no memory of.

One of them depicted Logan, lips pouting as he frowned down at a sheet of exercises. Lots of books scattered on the table. Study session, he figured. Another one had him lying in the grass, eyes closed for a deserved rest under the trees.

“The day we went to the museum, do you remember?” Roman sounded small in the diminishing light. “When we ran to the park afterwards?”

And there were others Logan had forgotten about. Like the day they took Patton and his friends to their town’s fair, the colourful neon lights of a paintball game reshaping their smiles. Or the time they spent New Years Eve with the Clarks, Roman claiming space on the armchair Logan was sitting in, not even caring to hide his smile, that fool. Or…

“Oh.” The air knocked out of Logan’s lungs. “I didn’t remember this one.”

He ran his fingers over the picture. The two of them were looking at the camera. Roman with an overtly bright smile. Logan, barely with a smirk. They sat on Roman’s kitchen floor, both drenched from head to toes. In their hands rested equal bowls of strawberries and cream.

“I know the memory’s not the happiest,” Roman said. “But I liked how it turned out.”

Logan wasn’t sure if he meant the picture or the moment.

He remembered that day clearly. He’d appeared on Roman’s door, using a blue jumper and grey sweatpants. His friend questioned him with a frown, but fell silent when he saw his red teary eyes.

Roman invited him in, asked him what happened, if he was okay. And Logan told him everything. He told him about the fight, and how it started out of nowhere. He told him about the yelling, about everything Kevin said. He told him about how he left, and everything he took with him.

“On your birthday?” Roman had said, and took his jacket off the rack. “We need to fix this now.”

And despite the complaining from Logan’s part they went out, under the pouring rain. He remembered how they ran, a laugh falling from their lips until they found shelter at the market. He remembered how the cashier eyed them, all water dripping down their clothes and silly smiles. And he remembered the way back to Roman’s place, where they prepared Logan’s favourite dessert.

“You said strawberries and whipped cream reminded you of your childhood,” Roman explained, taking him back to reality.

“We could have gotten sick,” Logan said. “Running like kids under the rain…”

“But you laughed,” Roman nudged him slightly with his side. “That was enough.”

Logan tore his eyes from the two young men sitting in pools of rain to look at Roman, whose own gaze was fixed on him.

“Can I tell you a secret?” he said. “Despite it all… I think I like how that day turned out too.”

“Weren’t you and Kevin going to go out on a date that night?”

Logan could feel his heartbeat in his throat.

“I know what I said.”

Roman looked down, and as his lips parted, he couldn’t help but do the same.

“There hasn’t been a day after that where strawberries don’t remind me of you.”

This was a mistake. He  _ knew _ it was a mistake. They were slipping away and once they crossed the threshold there would be no way back.

“Good memories, aren’t they?” Logan looked back at the album, ready to pass the page, but before he could move further Roman’s free hand grasped his wrist.

He licked his lips, a light frown pulling his eyebrows close.

“Logan, what are we doing?”

“Being clever.” Neither of them was talking about the pictures anymore. “If we keep up with this…”

“Are you scared?”

“Yes,” he admitted. “Yes, I… I don’t want to mess this up.”

“Remember what I told you that day?” Roman said. “Before we went out?”

He scoffed. “That we were about to do something crazy.”

“Okay,” Roman nodded. “What if we do that again?”

When Roman kissed him, Logan did nothing to push him away.

He thought kissing Roman would be a terrifying act that would change things forever. Make them different, turn their relationship into something none of them would recognise. But the truth was that Roman’s lips pressing against his own felt as familiar as his crooked smile. And the hand Roman pressed in the back of his head was as known to him as the three-knock tap on his best friend’s window. And leaning down on the couch, their chests almost fused together, felt as normal as dialling Roman’s number on his phone.

Everything felt so natural, every part of them fitting together as if this was a dance they’d done thousands of times before. The albums fell from the couch and Logan’s fingers tangled in Roman’s curls. Pictures scattered on the floor and Roman pulled him closer and closer. The sun finally went out, darkness settling between them, and Logan couldn’t find it in him to pull away.

They broke apart the moment Roman flopped his head on the couch. His hand cupped Logan’s cheek, thumb softly caressing his skin, and he had the sweetest smile Logan had ever seen.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m not scared anymore.”

“No.” Logan placed his hand above his, imitating his grin. “Me neither.”

Roman pulled him down to leave a kiss on his cheek, another in his jaw, another in his neck.

“Um, Roman?” Logan said. He felt a shiver as Roman hummed, lips not leaving his skin. “Whatever we do, now that we, uh, you know…”

“Kissed?” Roman offered against Logan’s jawline.

“Yes,” he frowned. “Please promise me we won’t tell anyone it happened because of two seventeen-year-olds.”

Roman pulled back to look at him with wide eyes.

“Yeah… let’s, not do that.”

Logan’s head went down with a laugh until it was safely tucked in the crook of the other’s shoulder. Roman wrapped his arm around his waist, and Logan figured that if there was a feeling he could describe like ‘home’ it must be this.

“But in the meantime,” Roman said in the dark, “we  _ could _ try to catch up, you know?”

He hummed, turning his head to face the other’s cheeky grin. “I  _ am _ curious to discover what else we might have missed.”

Roman laughed, and that was enough to make Logan want to kiss him again.

* * *

Patton waited anxiously with his phone in his hand, and he almost jumped the moment a notification popped up.

“It’s from Roman!” he said, and the next second, Virgil was by his side.

They looked at the message with a photo from the first time they went to DisneyLand.

**Big Bro:** is this okay?

“Ask him if that’s all,” Virgil patted him on the shoulder as he wrote the reply.

**Pat:** Yep!! Anything else you might want to tell me?

**Big Bro:** no???

**Big Bro:** why? did i forget sth?

Patton sighed.

**Pat:** Oh, no! That was all

**Pat:** Thanks Ro!!

**Big Bro:** yw pop

“So,” Virgil frowned, “it didn’t work?”

“I guess it didn’t.”

Patton let the phone slide from his hands to the bed, flopping back right after it.

“I give up,” he sentenced.

“Don’t say that,” Virgil helped him to sit back. “You were the one always telling me not to give up.”

“But this is different,” Patton stressed. “Everything we did turned out wrong. We organised dates, we were there with them, waiting from afar,  _ leaving them alone _ . Nothing worked out, Virgil.”

“But we can keep trying!” his friend insisted.

“No.” He’d failed. Now, he had to accept the truth. “No, maybe… Maybe you were right from the beginning.”

Virgil frowned. “What?”

“Maybe Logan and Roman  _ are _ like us,” Patton admitted with a little sting. “Maybe they  _ are _ just friends, and nothing can happen between them because… because they don’t see each other as anything but.”

“No.” Virgil went stiff in front of him. “No, you’re wrong.”

“ _ Yes _ . You saw it! There’s no way we could get those two together, it’s impossible!”

“Maybe,” Virgil rolled his eyes. “But they… they’re not like you and I, then.”

“Why not?”

“Because if this didn’t work then none of them caught feelings for their best friend.”

Patton shot a confused look at him. Virgil stood with his arms rigid at the sides, hands closed into tight fists.

“What?” he asked weakly.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you this whole time,” Virgil confessed through gritted teeth. “Damn, that’s what I was trying to tell you when all of this started.”

“But you…” Patton frowned. “You were the one that began with this idea!”

“No, I was trying to confess to you, you moron!” Virgil snapped back. “I wanted to tell you that I liked you, not that we should become your brother’s Cupid!”

Patton stared as his friend huffed. He ran both hands over his eyes, damned be his makeup, to avoid looking at him. And meanwhile? Meanwhile, Patton laughed.

“You’re not kidding, are you?”

Virgil looked a bit hurt, the fool.

“Do I look like I’m kidding to you?”

“No, no it’s just that-” Patton grabbed him by the shoulders. “I like you, too.”

Virgil’s eyebrows were knit together with confusion.

“ _ What? _ ”

“Yes! But when you said that I thought, well, I never imagined that you actually  _ liked  _ me back, so I thought…”

“That I was proposing playing matchmaker with Roman?” Virgil’s lips split into the most ridiculous of smiles. “So we did all of this for nothing?”

“I guess?” he shrugged apologetically, nose wrinkling as it always did.

Virgil scoffed. “You truly are something.”

“Is that something good?”

Patton’s smile widened as Virgil grabbed his hands.

“Mind if we figure it out?”

In a town where only a few people lived, after every other house’s light went out, there was a small family house. And in that house, after Mr and Ms Clark went to sleep, two teenagers shared their first kiss.

* * *

Next time Virgil and Patton went to Roman’s house, they did so hand in hand. Patton was so happy. He wanted to tell Roman  _ everything _ , even if that would make Virgil get a little embarrassed. Perhaps he’d tell Logan too, if he was there. He became like a second older brother if he had to be honest.

But when the apartment door opened, Patton’s smile vanished. His brother and his friend were both on the other side. Arms crossed over their chests, equal frowns on each face.

“Sit on the table,” Roman commanded, as serious as he’d never been.

Virgil and Patton exchanged a look, but they obeyed. As soon as they settled their things, the two young adults were already sitting across them, never once breaking into the normal light-heartedness of their visits.

“Uhm, Ro,” Patton shuffled uncomfortable, “Is everything-”

“Stop,” Roman cut him off. “We know what you did.”

Patton felt like his soul fell to his feet.

“Ah- I don’t understand what-”

“The plan to set us up together,” Logan said in a blurt, making it impossible for them to deny anything. “We know about the dates you made up for us to…”

“To fall in love,” Roman finished.

Patton swore the pair of stares would make him cry on the spot.

“It was my idea!” Virgil spat immediately. “I was the one that thought of it and I told Patton we could-”

“No.” Patton grabbed his hand under the table. A squish. We’re in this together. “No, it was  _ our _ idea.”

“And we,” Virgil winced, “we’re sorry.”

His brother and his friend shared a look, but if they noticed any change between them they didn’t say anything. Roman sighed.

“Listen, I know that what you did had good intentions, but you’ve got to understand that someone else’s love life is, uh…”

“None of your business?” Logan supplied with a small smile.

“Yeah,” Roman chuckled, “in the best way.”

Patton felt relieved seeing them smile. The seriousness asphyxiating him loosened its grip on him. Everything was alright. They weren’t mad.

“If any of us were to fall in love with someone that’s something we’ll keep to ourselves until we’re ready to share it with you.”

“That doesn’t mean that we don’t trust you.” Roman winked at them. “You’re both two very special people to me, and I think I speak for both of us when I say we love you, even if it’s just a little bit.”

“Hey!” Patton nudged him with his foot. “You’re being mean now.”

“Had to be, after everything you put us through,” Roman returned the push.

“Our point is, you need to learn that other people’s lives are something for them to figure out and share, alright?” Logan clarified once more, pinning them both to their seats with his eyes.

“Yes, Logan.”

“Understood.”

“We swear we’re sorry!”

“Yes, we won’t do it again.”

“I think they get it,” Roman smiled over at him.

“Fine,” Logan sighed.

“Are you staying for lunch?”

“No, I need to prepare a few charts for my next assignment.” He started kicking his chair back, but Roman didn’t let him go that far.

“Wait, wait, wait, and you’re not saying goodbye?” Roman said with open arms.

“You’re insufferable,” Logan said leaning over.

“Whatever you say.”

Patton’s jaw dropped to the floor when he saw his brother grabbing Logan by the shoulders to leave a short kiss on his friend’s lips. One look at Virgil’s wide eyes told him he wasn’t imagining it.

“We’re still going to marathon that show you mentioned tonight, right?” Roman called from his chair.

“Goodbye, Roman,” Logan sing-sung from the window.

His brother watched as Logan disappeared with the dreamiest of smiles hanging from his lips. Then he turned at two teenagers who still hadn’t recovered from… whatever just happened.

“What?” he asked innocently.

“Uh…” Virgil looked at him.

“Are you…?” Patton frowned.

“Are we what?”

The challenge in Roman’s eyes was too strong. But Patton had learned his lesson.

“Nothing!” he announced chirpily. “I, I wasn’t going to say anything.”

“Cool,” Roman went to the kitchen with a clap of his hands. “So, are you hungry?”

Once the door closed behind him Virgil leaned over to Patton.

“Did we both see your brother kiss Logan?” he asked. “ _ In the mouth? _ ”

“Yeah,” Patton frowned. “Maybe they  _ were _ like us after all.”

“And what do you think?”

Patton smiled at him. “That this Christmas is going to be wild.”


End file.
